The unique role of the non-lemniscal pathway on stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA) in the auditory system

Abstract

Stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA) is a special type of adaptation that allows neurons to cease responding only to repetitive, background stimuli, while preserving its responsiveness for other, new upcoming deviant stimuli. It emerges subcortically in non-lemniscal neurons of the inferior colliculi, propagating and evolving throughout the auditory pathway, until reaching its uppermost manifestation in the non-lemniscal areas of the auditory cortex. In this review, we will discuss the fundamental role of the non-lemniscal pathway in the generation of SSA, which is usually disregarded in cortical SSA research, despite being a major anatomical source of the mismatch negativity (MMN).